INTERVIEW: Eleri Angharad Talks ‘Staircase’ Video Release

Fast-rising Swansea based country singer-songwriter Eleri Angharad has officially shared the cinematic music video for new single ‘Staircase’. The clip was shot on location in the city of Swansea and was directed by Morris James Blanco at MJ Motion FIlms. The single is lifted off Eleri’s 2019 debut album ‘Earthbound’.

Here we chat exclusively to Eleri Angharad to discuss the music video and 2020 plans:

How excited are you to be releasing the Staircase video?I’m so excited this song gets a video! It’s secretly one of my favourites from the album and I really like hearing it stripped back with just the piano – it takes me straight back to the day I wrote it.

How much fun did you have shooting this on location in Swansea?I absolutely loved filming with Morris from MJ Motion Films, he was really creative and came up with some great shots! I filmed in one of my favourite gig venues – Swansea’s The Hyst which is such a gorgeous space. It was one of the quickest shoots I’ve done as there was so much we could film. Morris actually finished editing it the same day too so I was very impressed. It was a speedy turnaround just before I left for my Italy tour.

This track has racked up the streams in recent weeks, how have you found your streaming growth this year?Getting streams, followers, likes, views etc on all the different platforms is such a challenge as there’s so much great music out there – but I do feel like I’ve really focused on it this year and my numbers are steadily growing with each new release! Touring has helped me gain fans in new countries and I’ve had my music added to some great Listeners’ playlists on Spotify so I’m so grateful for that!

This year also saw you release your debut album, how have you found the response to the record? I’ve loved releasing Earthbound, it was such a special record for me as I’ve never released anything that big before. It was also my first Country record, which has been one of my favourite genres to for years and I feel so inspired writing country music. I feel like I’ve really found my sound now. The response has been great – I’ve discovered so many new blogs and radio stations, there are country music lovers all across the world and especially in the UK so it’s been amazing to connect with them through my music – of course, Belles & Gals is one of them!

You’ve also been touring across Europe, how have you found those experiences?Europe is such a different experience to the UK! I played a few house shows in Germany, which isn’t something that’s very big in the UK, and audiences invited all their friends and neighbours to the concerts and were so silent you could hear a pin drop. I also performed my first Sofar Sounds in Udine, Italy – in a winery! It was such a beautiful experience. I even sang to them in Welsh!

Looking ahead, you have a number of live shows in the diary for next year including the Belles and Gals sponsored Country Mind, how excited are you to be supporting mental health charity Mind?I’m really excited to play Acapela again, as it’s such a lush venue! I actually recorded some of my album there so I’ll get to play the exact piano on the Staircase recording for you. Mind is one of those wonderful charities that’s so important – I think as a musician we can be really prone to mental health struggles so it’s amazing to get to give something back through my music.

You’ll be performing alongside Liv Austen and Louise Parker, what can fans expect from your set?I think I’m going to strip it right back for this gig and perform on just Acoustic Guitar and the beautiful Grand Piano at Acapela. I’ve been writing more on the piano recently too so you can definitely expect some new ballads! I haven’t seen Liv Austen or Louise Parker live before either so I’m super excited to meet them.

Can we also expect a new LP or EP in 2020?I’ve been writing a lot recently so I’ll definitely be hitting the ground running with releases in 2020. Last year my-self and Naomi Rae (Cardiff based Singer/Songwriter that co-wrote Stronger Stuff from my album) set up an All-Female writing collective called SIREN so I’ve been collaborating a lot with other amazing women. Maybe you can expect a few collabs, not sure about another album yet – I just want to keep writing and work out what I want to say next with my music.

Do you have any headline touring and or festivals in the books for next year? I’m in talks about another tour next year at the moment but I can’t say too much just yet.. and yes I have a couple of festivals confirmed so far so keep your eyes peeled for those announcements sometime next year!

What does the rest of 2019 look like for you? Well, the Staircase video is going to be my last release for this year – I think the piano and fairy lights in the video have a little bit of a Christmassy feel so it fits really nicely! I’ve also got a Christmas Writer’s Round coming up at Elysium Bar, Swansea on December 5th so I’d love to see some friendly faces there!

Tickets for the Belles and Gals sponsored Country Mind showcase are on sale now with all proceeds going to Mind!

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